Life in a Flash (Part 8)

As usual he had slept through all the three alarms he always set. He did not know exactly why he still insisted on setting them anyway. Life can really take a turn. He lazily got up and tried to tidy up just in case his parents decided to surprise him by coming in his room without knocking, something he was now used to. It still really bugged him though. Talk of privacy. "Randy should come up with life goals to keep him motivated and on track", he thought he heard someone say across the hall, somewhere in the kitchen. His room was furthest from the kitchen yet he was now accustomed to his ever-evolving vampire-like ears which with time seemed to hear about anything in any room whatever time. As he emerged at the kitchen door the talking turned into murmurs between his dad and mum and for a moment he just thought how devastating life had turned out for the big guy. Himself. He had always thought of himself to be superior to most people, yet the time to give them proof of how on-top-of-the-world he was, seemed to be running out really fast. Or just really slowly that he was getting tired of waiting. With majestic posture, he walked across to serve himself some coffee and make at least some French toasts. Funny how he was turning into a home-made chef, he thought. He then pulled a seat from under the table and started taking his breakfast though he could still feel two pair of eyes watching his every move from behind. He lifted a shoulder, sipped his coffee, and continued to brood while staring out the kitchen window. He wasn’t sure why he'd come here to listen to his mother nag and worry about him or to hear his father whistle as he meticulously tied his fishing flies at the table early in the morning and commenting on his dependence and supposed laziness. Damn, he wasn’t sure of anything that went on in his life, but you’ve got to cut him some slack for trying to know. Now, he sat there anxious to know what he had wanted to talk about; Kevin had called him the previous night but he had not been able to bring himself to answer it. He still felt betrayed by the very fact that he had had an affair with his then girlfriend and he still wasn’t ready to talk about anything with him. He tried to convince himself that he had already moved on despite the joblessness which still weighed him down big time. That and the very fact that his closest friend was the ‘rich guy’ in the neighborhood was not any consolation. He drove a brand Lamborghini for Christ’s sake! He definitely would be losing his mind anytime soon, he thought. Despite having known Kevin since he moved to the US supposedly from Russia four years ago in college, there were quite a number of things he still did not know about him. Like how he could afford a Lamborghini within six months of working. His dad, nonetheless, made sure he always reminded him of his more successful friend, Kevin, whom they had even done same courses in school. "I do have my life goals, it might just take a while longer to achieve them", he muttered the words he had been aching to utter the whole morning since he woke up late again. "Maybe you should work harder," his father said, eyeing his own work critically. "You could go to Montana for a week to visit your grandparents. Maybe it could change your life’s perspective and maybe you could relax before you embark on your hustle. His mum glanced up and smiled. "Call it a sabbatical." It was tempting given that he missed his grandpa and grandma. The very definition of hustlers was meant for them. What did he have to lose? Infact he would be able to shake off the restlessness he had been having of late, he thought. The dreams.. “A week in the clean air will do you good”, his mum added “You're looking pale and tired, Randy. You need to get out of the city for a while." She took her son's face in her hands and studied it with a mother's keen eye. His eyes were shadowed, she noted, his face too thin. She worried for the man she'd raised, and the boy he had been who had always seemed to have something more than the ordinary. "I'm fine", he said trying to smile. He could not exactly see himself narrating his ordeal to his mom, especially having no sleep because of constant dreams about some ex-girlfriend who slept with his supposed best friend and some weird stuff in his head. Wow, life got way technical real quick. “Do you need to rest more?” "Mom, I'm fine." He knew his voice was too sharp, too defensive. He struggled to lighten it, "I'm perfectly fine” he added. "I don't want you to worry. I'm a little stressed-out, that's all." That was all, he thought, determined to make it so. He wasn't different, he wasn't odd. All of a sudden, there was a down pour without warning, typical of a city. The stormy weather was also now getting on his nerves; he hated the cold and staying indoors all the time. It was high time to be both liberal and be liberated and Montana would have to do it. The next day for once he woke up by the very first sounding of his alarm, ready to leave Hollywood for some peace in Montana. Even at twenty six he still could not call his own shots, let alone naming his price. Yea, it was high time he did something different. Suddenly an odd chill raced through him, and he thought, for just a moment, that he heard a woman weeping. If only his adventurous sister, Laurent, were around to keep him company at such times or even accompany him to Montana. Apparently, she had been absorbed as an intern by Microsoft and posted to the Nairobi office in Kenya to aid in marketing and recruiting the young people into the world of technology. Then another chill…